Deodar Cedar
Cedrus deodara
Very common in older Port Moody, Coquitlam and Burnaby neighbourhoods, where they were planted as specimen trees in mid-century subdivisions. Many are now fifty to seventy years old and have simply outgrown the front yards they were put in, which is why they turn up so often as removal and risk-assessment calls rather than planting advice.
FormneedlesHow to recognise it
Height
20-25m (65-80ft) typical in Lower Mainland yards, occasionally taller
Trunk
Commonly 60-120cm diameter on mature specimens, grey-brown bark fissured into scaly plates
Needles
True needles, 2.5-5cm, stiff and sharp-tipped, blue-green to grey-green, in dense rosettes of 20-30 on short spur shoots
Cones
Barrel-shaped, 7-13cm, sitting upright on the branch and disintegrating scale by scale on the tree rather than falling whole
Quick check
- Drooping, nodding leader at the top - the single most reliable field mark
- Pendulous branch tips give the whole tree a sweeping, graceful outline
- Needles, not scale-like foliage - this is not a relative of Western Red Cedar despite the name
- Atlas Cedar is very similar but holds a stiff, erect leader
- Cedar of Lebanon goes flat-topped with age; Deodar keeps a pyramidal crown
Photo guide
5 things to look for — photographs coming
Care
Watering. Drought-tolerant once established, but wants sharp drainage. Sitting in wet winter clay is what kills them here, not summer heat.
Pruning. Deadwood and clearance pruning only. Never top one, and never cut back into bare wood - Cedrus does not resprout from old wood, so the hole is permanent. Leave the drooping leader alone; it is the tree's natural form, not damage. Best time: Late winter to early spring while dormant. Note the Mar 1 - Aug 31 nesting survey window.
Maintenance. Low. Given room and drainage they largely look after themselves - the problems in this area come from siting, not neglect.
Common issues
- Root rot (Phytophthora, Armillaria) in poorly drained or over-irrigated soil
- Deodar weevil, which attacks the leader and upper branches of stressed trees
- Cedar bark beetles moving into drought-stressed or construction-damaged trees
- Tip blight and needle cast, usually cosmetic
- Snow and ice load breaking the long lateral limbs
Roots
Wide-spreading lateral roots with sinkers, shallower and more plate-like in compacted urban soil Routinely well past the drip line, often one and a half to three times the canopy radius
Hazards
Windfall risk
Medium
Branch drop risk
High
Warning signs to watch for
- Thinning crown or an unusual flush of brown needles out of season
- Resin bleeding down the trunk or from branch unions
- Mushrooms or conks at the base or on surface roots
- Soil heaving or cracking on one side of the trunk
- Visible cracks or included bark where two leaders meet
Removal considerations
Difficulty: HighTypical cost: $$$- Long, heavy lateral limbs spreading well beyond the trunk, often over roofs, driveways and pools
- Dense, heavy wood - limb weights are consistently underestimated
- Whorled branching and pendulous tips make rigging awkward; there is little clean stem to work from
- Frequently planted too close to the house in mid-century lots, leaving no drop zone
- Lower branches often sweep to the ground, so there is significant brush volume before any wood comes down
- Crane access is often the difference between a one-day and a three-day job
Permits
A mature Deodar clears every permit threshold in the region, so plan on needing one. Permit thresholds vary across the region: 15cm or 5m tall in Port Coquitlam, 20cm in Anmore, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, New Westminster and Delta, 30cm in Port Moody and Surrey, and 30.5cm for conifers in Burnaby (Belcarra regulates only trees 5m+ in its mapped permit areas). Being non-native changes nothing: protected-species lists only lower the threshold further for particular natives, they never exempt an ornamental. Expect an arborist report and replacement planting as conditions, and check whether a 'significant tree' rule applies on top - Port Coquitlam sets that at 45cm and Maple Ridge at 60cm, and a big Deodar can be past both.
Tree bylaws by city